New to rangers

[akatagyourit]

Good afternoon everyone,
I recently purchased a 1995 Ford Ranger XLT 2.3L 5speed. The truck only has 38,000 miles on it so it was an impressive find to me. Now with that said, i'm familiar with the 2.3L platforms, I had numerous foxbodies with the 2.3 in it. I'm getting garbage gas milage for what I drive. I'm averaging 19-20mpg combined. My old 02 GT Mustang got 20 mpg poking around in the city a lot. Kinda garbage to me. Now I have done a full tune up on the truck, plugs, plug wires, air filter, and fuel filter. I've checked vacuum on the truck. At idle i'm pulling around 22-24 inHG, with AC on it drops to 17 inHG which i'm know ac is vacuum controlled, but I don't think it should be having that much of a drop on the vacuum of the motor. I measured off the main vacuum T on the upper intake. I've checked with carb cleaner near all the major leak spots with no changes in rpm speed. I'm in process of tracking a vacuum leak regarding the ac as I do lose ac from the vents to defrost when going over 60mph. I was going to check the ICM but it appears this model doesn't have one and from what I read its built into the ECU. Now that idle does seem a little rough, but barely noticable, what I do notice a lot though is while accelerating I will feel timing get pulled from the truck. Using my bluetooth obd2 scanner and torque app I have watched timing get pulled around 10 degrees or so. Any help is greatly appreciated. I'm looking to make this a fuel efficient vehicle it is and get it to be a daily driver. Let me know what you great gurus think. There is a cel, bank 1 sensor 2 hego heater circuit, so during the startup of the o2 sensor its not heating up. Once truck reaches operating temp it does go into closed loop etc so it is functioning. Since it is the 2nd sensor its only for emissions and there is no cat currently on the truck I did think it might've been clogged hence deleting it. Let me know thanks.

 

[JamesD]

I guess it really how you drive it. Back in 95" trucks and cars were not yet mad out of tin and plastic like they are now. So 20 mpg is not all that bad for a truck. If you want better than 21 mpg city I would suggest a smaller newer car. 22-24 vacuum is about what my 86' ranger 2.0 carb engine pulls. Which means your little motor is still strong.

According to Edmond's your truck is getting the right MPG.

http://www.edmunds.com/ford/ranger/1995/st-7549/features-specs/

 

[Mark_88]

I would agree with JamesD...especially if you are seeing this under AC load because it really is a drain of HP and fuel on these engines...even if your Mustangs got better mileage, I'd say the Ranger is probably a good 500 or more lbs heavier without anything special done to it.

If you really want to bump the numbers on your truck you may need to skim down a bit of weight it has...like tossing the jump seats if so equipped...

Otherwise, I'd enjoy the truck and keep it well maintained...and I'm sure you are familiar with that...

And post real pics when you get a chance...

 

[tomw]

You would have to specify a bit more what type of driving you mostly do. If real city driving, 19-20 is about right on target. If more rural, then you should be getting close to the mid-20's. Two things to consider are wheel size and the differential ratio. If it is set up for more acceleration, it will get less mpg generally. If the tires & wheels mounted are different size, you may be mis-reporting the actual miles driven. Have you checked that the odo is showing close to actual miles traveled? Check out I-275 going out of TPA, and watch the mile markers compared to the ODO. Do you calculate the mpg or depend on 'ballpark' numbers? Do a real calculation, from one fill to another.
tom

 

[akatagyourit]

Ok I didn't provide full information on the drive my apologies on that. I'm averaging around 350-360 miles to a tank at 18.5 gallons to fill up 360 divided by 18.5 is 19.45mpg. My drive is mainly highway speeds 55-65mph. I drive from my house to work at 25 miles one way all highway, 25 back all highway. So 250 miles a week on the tank is all highway. The rest of the driving is generally close to highway speeds in the city with light stop and go since its a none heavily populated area. As for my driving habits they are no longer what they used to be. I'm not heavy on acceleration or anything, but I don't remember this motor being so bleh on moving itself.

You would have to specify a bit more what type of driving you mostly do. If real city driving, 19-20 is about right on target. If more rural, then you should be getting close to the mid-20's. Two things to consider are wheel size and the differential ratio. If it is set up for more acceleration, it will get less mpg generally. If the tires & wheels mounted are different size, you may be mis-reporting the actual miles driven. Have you checked that the odo is showing close to actual miles traveled? Check out I-275 going out of TPA, and watch the mile markers compared to the ODO. Do you calculate the mpg or depend on 'ballpark' numbers? Do a real calculation, from one fill to another.
tom

In response to you tomw, as noted above a lot of my driving is a majority highway which is why I think 20mpg is garbage. Now if it was just 20mpg in the city i'd be ok with that. The gear ratio is 3.73 open diff per tag on diff and code from door jamb. Door jamb codes for tires show p235/60R15 and the truck is equipped with p215/75R15. Now I know the first number is tire width so less rolling resistance on the width of the tires, i'm not sure if the 60 vs 75 is a big difference and tires with rims are stock size. If you care to clear that up for me it would be greatly appreciated.

Pictures as requested.

 

[Mark_88]

Cool...that's a nice looking Ranger...

The tires and gearing can make a big difference like tomw said...and you seem like you know a thing or three about that...smaller tires than stock will throw things off but you may not be that much out with the sizes you listed...

Better would be going with a 205/75/15 comparitively...I used that size on my last Ranger and was happy with the results...smooth enough to not feel every bump with the tire pressure set to 28 psi...and with the 3:73 gears it got decent fuel economy...

There is a tire size chart in the Tech Articles that might help you figure what is best...

http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/Gear_Tire_RatioChange.shtml

Punch in the numbers here and compare them...there are others in the same section for determining tire size if you don't know that specifically...

 

[tomw]

The sidewall:height ratios of 60 and 75 mean that you have a narrower, taller tire in the 75 series than you'd have with the 60. The circumference would be bigger with the 75 series, so you have more miles traveled than are indicated by the odometer. How much? I don't know.
I have an old 2.3, and get ballpark 25mpg without trying to drive economically. I do not leadfoot it, but don't have an egg taped to the gas pedal either. It is the small cab, and doesn't have any 'creature features' such as headliner or real carpeting. It does have PS and A/C, added by me years on, so is not a complete strippo.
I'd check what the tire size does to mileage readings, and figure a real, closer to true, mpg. Check that vs the EPA 'standard' for that year.
I would also check the standard stuff, such as tire pressure, air cleaner, oil in the crankcase, differential and transmission fluids(what is specified? I use 85W90 type). The MAP sensor can also diddle with fuel, as can fuel pressure. If the regulator is allowing too much fuel, the computer can only compensate so much, and it may be running rich. If the O2 sensor is not working properly, the computer will be adding fuel that is not needed, as a 'lean' condition will be reported by an O2 that is dying(low voltage== lean condition). You can put a meter on the lead and look for the voltage to fluctuate between .1 & .9 ballpark. If it is a 'stable' low voltage, it is likely not working.
If you do not have OBD-II emissions control (likely, but it was phased in over the late 1995-1996 transition, you can't read any of the engine parameters, and I do not think a failing O2 sensor will be noted, anyway, in EEC-IV system.
tom

 

[akatagyourit]

The sidewall:height ratios of 60 and 75 mean that you have a narrower, taller tire in the 75 series than you'd have with the 60. The circumference would be bigger with the 75 series, so you have more miles traveled than are indicated by the odometer. How much? I don't know.
I have an old 2.3, and get ballpark 25mpg without trying to drive economically. I do not leadfoot it, but don't have an egg taped to the gas pedal either. It is the small cab, and doesn't have any 'creature features' such as headliner or real carpeting. It does have PS and A/C, added by me years on, so is not a complete strippo.
I'd check what the tire size does to mileage readings, and figure a real, closer to true, mpg. Check that vs the EPA 'standard' for that year.
I would also check the standard stuff, such as tire pressure, air cleaner, oil in the crankcase, differential and transmission fluids(what is specified? I use 85W90 type). The MAP sensor can also diddle with fuel, as can fuel pressure. If the regulator is allowing too much fuel, the computer can only compensate so much, and it may be running rich. If the O2 sensor is not working properly, the computer will be adding fuel that is not needed, as a 'lean' condition will be reported by an O2 that is dying(low voltage== lean condition). You can put a meter on the lead and look for the voltage to fluctuate between .1 & .9 ballpark. If it is a 'stable' low voltage, it is likely not working.
If you do not have OBD-II emissions control (likely, but it was phased in over the late 1995-1996 transition, you can't read any of the engine parameters, and I do not think a failing O2 sensor will be noted, anyway, in EEC-IV system.
tom

Ok I've been looking over the information and have been using the calculators, what I need to know is what gear do I need for the VSS speed sensor in the transmission. I understand they can be swapped out to fix the speedometer and odometer from reading incorrectly. That will allow me to figure out real world numbers.

Tire Diameter
Old = 26.1 inches
New = 27.7 inches
Rear gear = 3.73

So I do understand the tires equipped on the vehile I bought are 1.6 inches bigger in diameter. I have no problem changing the gear just need to know how many teeth it needs. Speedometer is about 5mph off based on GPS speed vs ecu reported speed.

I'll look into the map sensor. From what I was reading that is located under the coil packs?

Trucks date shows 06/95 on the door tag for production date. I also know it does have OBD-2 and based on what I can read its the newer style vs older. I can see the short and long term fuel trims along with O2 voltage from the ecu. As far as the O2 not working its only the second/after cat 02 which is just emissions. Will probably run a mil eliminator to clear the code.

While watching torque today I did see I had a couple of misfires, looked like cylinder 2 had 2 misfires and cylinder 4 had 1.

As for tune up I put the tire pressure generally 5 below max while hot, I prefer the firmer ride myself. Air filter changed, oil changed to semi synth 5w-20 I believe ford calls for. I want to replace the pcv valve just have to order the right one. I will be installing a 7.5 posi with 3.73's so when I do that the fluids will get changed. Transmission fluid i'll probably do as soon as I get the new speedo gear as soon as I can figure out what one I need.

 

[tomw]

Do your tire pressures cold. The max on the sidewall is a cold measure, as all tires will heat up, and increase in pressure as they are used. Check the pressure cold, and you may find you are below even makers recommendations. I am not sure what you will read, but have always checked pressure with less than a 2 mile drive from overnight. Always.
The speedometer, if driven by a 'electronic' gizmo, VSS?, can be re-set by the dealer up to X number of times to accomodate variances in the tire size installed. They re-program a parameter(multiplier/divisor??) so XXX pulses == 1.0 miles instead of XXY or XXW.
If cable driven, check with the dealer for the gear installed with that tire size and the 3.73 differential.
It would also make sense to verify that the differential is the ratio advertised as it COULD have been swapped some time. Both wheels off the ground, mark the drive shaft & chalk a mark on the tires. Count turns of the drive shaft for one turn of the wheels.
If more than 3 and 3/4 turns, the diff is not as advertised.. if less than 3.73, ditto.
tom